Signs of life on Wellington Row

Plans for long-vacant site hailed, signs first tenant

Updated 10:24 pm, Thursday, May 16, 2013

NYS Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy speaks during the announcement of the first tenants of a new building at Wellington Row on State Street in Albany, NY Thursday May 16, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

NYS Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy speaks during the announcement of the...

Omar Usmani, executive partner at Aeon Nexus Corporation speaks during the announcement that his firm will be among the first tenants of a new building at Wellington Row on State Street in Albany, NY Thursday May 16, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Omar Usmani, executive partner at Aeon Nexus Corporation speaks...

Interior of 138 State St. at Wellington Row in Albany, NY Thursday May 16, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Interior of 138 State St. at Wellington Row in Albany, NY Thursday...

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings speaks during the announcement of the first tenants of a new building at Wellington Row on State Street in Albany, NY Thursday May 16, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings speaks during the announcement of the...

138, left, and 140 State St. at Wellington Row in Albany, NY Thursday May 16, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

138, left, and 140 State St. at Wellington Row in Albany, NY...

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, at right, leads dignitaries including NYS Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy and Albany Co. Exec Dan McCoy, left, from a tour of 138 State St. during the announcement of the first tenants of a new building at Wellington Row in Albany, NY Thursday May 16, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

A 14-story office tower once was planned for the Wellington Row, several empty State Street buildings and facades within view of the governor's office a block away.

But when officials on Thursday morning announced tenants and plans for the site, it was a much scaled-back project.

The facade — all that remains of the former Berkshire Hotel at 140 State St. — will front a new, five-story building housing four condominiums. Next door, at the former Elks Lodge at 138 State, Aeon Nexus Corp. of Glens Falls will consolidate out-of-state operations with 12 employees to start. The number could rise to as many as 24 in the next 18 months, said Omar Usmani, executive partner in the management consulting firm.

Columbia Development purchased the row of buildings in 2006, and originally planned an office tower. But the recession killed that plan.

Now, Columbia also plans to turn 134 State St. into five apartments, and Joseph Nicolla, Columbia's president, said he hopes to make an announcement within the next month on a tenant for the remaining building Columbia owns at 132 State St.

So far, there are no concrete plans for the facade of the Wellington Hotel at 136 State.

And Aeon Nexus will keep its existing offices in Glens Falls, where it has eight or nine employees, Usmani said. With the office near Lake George, and the new downtown Albany office closer to Albany International Airport — company employees travel to projects nationwide — Usmani said, "I've got everything that I'd ever want."

Columbia is talking with the city about incentives, Nicolla said.

"Nothing's pinned down yet," he said, but "we're talking actively about tax incentives."

The properties originally were acquired with the help of a $2.5 million grant from Empire State Development Corp. to clean up asbestos, lead paint and other hazardous materials.

Speculation earlier in the year focused on a possible scaled-back convention center/hotel project for the site. Efforts to develop a larger center in the area of the Greyhound bus station near the spaghetti bowl of expressway exit ramps have stalled, and state support has evaporated for the $220 million, 300,000-square-foot proposal. An affiliated company of Columbia, BBL Construction Services, in March withdrew as co-construction manager for the project, triggering speculation that a scaled-down project might be in the works off State Street.

Nicolla said about an acre of vacant space exists behind Wellington Row. "We still have the site behind the Wellington," he said after the news conference.